Heavy Metal

Watching A Rock Legend Flutter By

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

In the grand tradition of my friends throwing photographic challenges into my lap, Quilly has ordered me to produce a photograph of a butterfly in flight. One problem. One small problem. It’s still winter here. Ain’t no butterflies in this part of the world.

Quilly, ma’am, as soon as summer comes a-knocking on my door, I’ll be out in the garden chasing every butterfly I can find, in an attempt to come up with the shot you want. I’ll climb hills. I’ll tramp down dales. I’ll swim rivers. I’ll find butterflies. And I’ll photograph them till they beg me not to photograph them again.

But until then, this is the best I could do. When I took this shot, there was the nagging thought in the back of my mind, that there was somehow a rock reference lurking somewhere. I paid no attention to that, took the shot and kept walking.

But as soon as I sat down to write this post, the penny dropped. The heavy metal reference should have been obvious. Remember the 17-minute hit track In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida? It was by a group that famously got stranded at the airport on their way to play at Woodstock.

The name of the group? Iron Butterfly.

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